The Contested Public Square

I have been part of the Burlington community for a little over a year now, and have truly appreciated the opportunity to become a member of our town.  I have had the opportunity to speak with many of you either through interactions at City Hall or events in the community, yet very few people get the opportunity to get to know what is going on in City Hall, how the larger national social and political structure impacts residents of Burlington, or to know some of the reasoning that lays behind the decisions that your City government makes or the perspectives that we try to bring to the table in our day-to-day management of municipal operations. 

I decided to start this series of posts to provide an opportunity; an opportunity for you to hopefully get to know me a little better, an opportunity to get to know what is happening with our municipal finances, an opportunity to get to know how state and federal government decisions have impacted or will impact Burlington, and an opportunity to see the context in which political life occurs within all of our day-to-day living.  I have called this blog spot The Contested Public Square for a couple of reasons; first, I robbed it from a book that I am currently reading by Greg Forster, but second and more importantly, it reflects the messiness that occurs in politics as we all try to work together, bringing our competing thoughts, goals, and desires together as we try to reach a compromise in our life in community.  I hope that this is a series of posts that can have some value, and that there is a desire from at least a few of my fellow Burlingtonians to read and consider my thoughts.  Please join me as we move forward to make Burlington the best that it can be, both for now and the future, as we meet on The Contested Public Square.